Case Study: Southern Water achieves portfolio visibility and faster delivery with Planview PPM Pro

Southern Water Embraces PPM Best Practices to Grow and Adapt to Change

Southern Water, the UK utility supplying over 532 million litres of clean water daily to 2.5 million people in a water-stressed region, faced rising regulatory pressure, population growth, and climate-driven demand. Rapid growth had left the organisation with ad-hoc project practices, inconsistent standards, and no central view of strategic initiatives, making it hard for leadership to prioritise work, understand resource capacity, and drive a more portfolio-focused approach.

By adopting Planview PPM Pro, Southern Water gained a single, centralised view of programmes and initiatives—uncovering 450 active initiatives and consolidating them to 200—establishing portfolio→programme→project visibility, real-time dashboards, and repeatable reporting. The change improved milestone and resource management, cut weekly reporting from two days to about an hour, put the PMO in a strategic data-driven role (estimated 6–12 months of progress ahead), and set the organisation up to expand into broader enterprise planning.

Southern Water

Stephen Budd

Senior PMO Analyst